Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s motorcade was pulled over for multiple speeding and traffic violations, but none of the fines, totaling $658, were paid. Lawmakers have called for tougher penalties for drivers caught speeding. Since February 2020, Lightfoot SUVs have been involved in at least eight incidents.

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Images viewed and discovered by CCB Chicago shows various incidents involving his cars. A video shows two Ford Expedition SUVs going through a series of red lights. Traffic cameras flash in their wake. Another video shows a black Chevy SUV turning left at a red light at a major intersection. It’s unclear if Lightfoot was in the SUVs at the time of the incidents, and she apparently wouldn’t have been driving even if she had been.

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Lightfoot took over in May 2019 and pushed to lower the “buffer zone” threshold allowed by speed cameras before issuing a citation. From 10mph last year, Lightfoot ordered it reduced to 6mph. “Nobody likes speed cameras. I get it,” she said last month, according to the Daily Mail. “But it’s life and death we’re talking about here, and we need to step up as a city and fix this.” She also highlighted the threat that speeding poses to children near schools.

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“It is unacceptable for any member of city council to consider voting to allow a speed increase near spaces used by our children,” Lightfoot said. She said last week: ‘It makes no sense for us to increase speed around parks and schools when we know what the horrific consequences are for pedestrians and other drivers.

Yet in February 2020, one of Lightfoot’s vehicles passed Jones College Prep at 39 mph, after which a warning was issued. Also in January 2021, his SUV reportedly ran a red light at 5:45 a.m. His two SUVs passed Samuel Gompers Park at 39mph, prompting another speed warning. His motorcade passed Orr Academy High School at 43 mph in July of that year. A speed camera ticket that was issued at the time and is now $244 remains unpaid.

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In October 2021, a $244 ticket and “notice of seizure” were issued after one of his cars turned left at a red light. In November of that year, one of Lightfoot’s SUVs received a warning for driving through Washington Park at 39 mph. At the time, she was on her way to a COVID press conference at a children’s hospital. In March of this year, Lightfoot’s SUVs drove through the same location and she was subsequently fined $70, which has still not been paid. She passed Samuel Gompers Park again last month at 41 mph. His $100 bill remains unpaid.

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It was reported in 2020 that most tickets issued to Lightfoot’s security team were rejected by the City of Chicago. Some of the tickets were given away at times when she was attending non-city related events. The Illinois Policy Institute found that Chicago has issued 3.8 million speeding tickets since the threshold was lowered by the mayor last year, generating nearly $80 million in revenue for the city.

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According to Lightfoot’s office, the mayor was not responsible for his drivers and “repeatedly insisted on detailed road safety and that running red lights is never okay.” Lightfoot’s team said the fines weren’t paid due to an “administrative process” put in place to review the fines. “Payment is not taken until this process is complete,” the town hall said. “Individual members of the mayor’s detail are responsible for payment of tickets incurred while driving.”

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